Institute for Justice

Dottie and Omar Rivera

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Article | Institute for Justice

Dottie and Omar Rivera are Steve’s tenants. They have lived in Pottstown their entire lives and have rented their home from Steve for the last five years. Their home is brimming with the personal touches that make a house a home. Dottie decorates the house as the seasons change with a menagerie of gourds and cornstalks for autumn; garlands, trees and lights for the holidays; and pastel greenery for the warmth and renewal of spring. They have raised their children in this home and plan to live in it for as long as it is available to be rented.

Pottstown, Pennsylvania has a rental inspection law that forces landlords and tenants to open their properties and homes to submit to intrusive inspections. This ordinance allows the government to enter the most intimate confines of tenants’ homes—including bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens and closets—in search of housing code violations, even when landlords and tenants object. Needless…